Silence

He must . . . observe silence and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endureth a century.

Let him sit in silence to hearken to the verses of God, the Sovereign, the Almighty, the All-Praised.

The essence of true safety is to observe silence, to look at the end of things and to renounce the world.

It behooveth you to remain silent before His Throne, for indeed of all the things which have been created between heaven and earth nothing on that Day will be deemed more fitting than the observance of silence.

Verily, be not grieved if a thing ye asked of Him remaineth unanswered, inasmuch as He hath been commanded by God to observe silence, a silence which is in truth praiseworthy.

Bahá’u’lláh says there is a sign (from God) in every phenomenon: the sign of the intellect is contemplation and the sign of contemplation is silence, because it is impossible for a man to do two things at one time -- he cannot both speak and meditate.

Ere long the symphony of the Kingdom shall silence all the other noises.

First Step. - Pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Then remain in the silence of contemplation for a few minutes.

He [the Báb], no doubt, must have retired, in the silence of this moonlit night, to a place where He can seek undisturbed communion with God.

Siyyid Kazim was often heard to remark that certain ones among his disciples, though they occupied the lowliest of seats, and observed the strictest silence, were none the less so exalted in the sight of God that he himself felt unworthy to rank among their servants.

The silence he [Quddus] observed and the modesty of his behaviour distinguished him from the rest of his companions.

. . . others stood in silence rapt in spiritual communion with Him.

A silence as of love and awe overcame us, as we looked at Him

I have only the memory of an impressive silence most unusual at such functions.

If you see something wrong, let your silence be your only comment.

Man's ignorance, his cruelty, his ungodliness, his selfishness, his insincerity and all his sins and shortcomings are tools of torture inflicting painful wounds upon the souls of the Chosen Ones of God, who have no alternative but to bear them in silence with resignation and submissiveness, as in the case of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. One act of unfaithfulness -- even a glance betraying the insincerity of the individual or an unworthy thought emanating from his mind -- is painful torture to them. But they seldom reveal the shortcomings of men or dwell on their own pain and suffering.

There was a moment of silence; then He said: 'What is it, Juliet, that you are pondering so deeply?'

Truly, as the outer silence deepened, my heart burned within me as He talked with me on the way.

Turning old pages, looking at drawings and rare photos, you can get yourself back into mid-19th century Persia again, feel yourself under that tender sky, sheathed in that very silence, breathing the warm smell of summer roses, setting your lips to tea with the lime juice and sugar, and since it was in a holder of silver filigree, not burning your fingers on the glass.

We sat in silence for some time and then a message came.

When I returned to the Holy Land two years later, and visited the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh one day after sunset, I was overcome by the serene beauty of the whole garden, lit by the generous system of illumination that the Guardian had developed, which added an element of mystery and wonder. It is like fairyland, I was repeating to myself, overwhelmed by the bliss of silence and solitude - the true 'Celestial City', where the certainty of God's presence was filling my soul with rapture and joy.

When the [members of the Society of] Friends assemble in their Meeting House, they sit in silence and contemplate. Their leader proposes a certain problem, saying to the assembly, "This is the problem on which to meditate." Then, freeing their minds from everything else, they sit quietly and reflect, and before long the answer is revealed to them. Many abstruse divine questions are solved by means of this illumination.

[To John Bosch, an early believer in the West] He said, "You are doing well. I am satisfied with you. With you it is not the movements of the lips, nor the  tongue. With you it is the heart that speaks. With you it is silence that speaks and radiates."